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Soddo language

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Languages

   Soddo
   Kəstane
   Spoken in: Ethiopia
   Region: Gurage Zone, Southern Region
   Total speakers: 250,000
   Language family: Afro-Asiatic
     Semitic
      South
       Ethiopic
        South
         Outer
         Soddo
   Language codes
   ISO 639-1: none
   ISO 639-2: sem
   ISO/FDIS 639-3: gru
   Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA
   chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

   Soddo (autonym kəstane "Christian"; formerly called Aymälläl in Western
   sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken
   by about 300,000 people in southeastern Ethiopia. It is a South
   Ethiopian Semitic language of the Northern Gurage subfamily.

Grammar

Noun

   As in most Ethiopian languages, noun qualifiers generally precede the
   noun.

   The definite article is expressed by the suffix -i, eg: goš "boy" >
   goš-i "the boy"; ätit "sister" > ätiti "the sister"; bayyočč "children"
   > bayyočč-i. If the noun ends in -a or -ä, it normally loses this vowel
   when -i is suffixed: angačča "cat" > angačč-i "the cat". A noun ending
   in -i usually stays the same: abi "(the) father, proprietor". A noun
   ending in -e, -o, -u adds a y before the suffix: ge "house" > geʸi "the
   house"; wälläho "neighbour" > wällähoʸi "the neighbour". If the noun
   has a qualifier, the article is used with the first element: maläk' ge
   "big house" > maläk'-i ge "the big house"; yä-šum-i ge "the house of
   the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"); yä-mät't'-i məss "the man
   who came" (lit. "who-came-the man".)

   There is no real indefinite article, though indefiniteness can be
   expressed by preposing the word attə or k'una, meaning "one".

   Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine, which affect verb
   concord.

   Nouns which are definite objects ( direct or indirect) are both marked
   with the prefix yä- or nä-: eg yä-geʸi ažžo "he saw the house";
   yä-zämmihʷan abännət "he gave it to his brother" (lit. "to-his-brother
   he-gave-him"). Direct objects may additionally be marked by adding the
   object suffix pronouns to the verb: eg yabiddi täšakkunnət "I asked my
   father" (lit. "my-father-obj. I-asked-him".)

   A possessed noun is marked by the prefix yä-, and the possessor
   precedes the possessed: yä-šum-i ge "the house of the official" (lit.
   "of-official-the house"). If the possessed noun has a preposition
   prefixed to it, this yä- is omitted: babiddi färäz rather than
   *bä-yä-abiddi färäz for "on my father's horse".

Pronoun

Personal pronoun

   English Standalone form Possessive suffix (consonant-final nouns)
   Possessive suffix (vowel-final nouns)
   I ädi -əddi -ddi
   you (m. sg.) dähä -dä -dä
   you (f. sg.) däš -däš -däš
   he kʷa -äw, -kʷan -w, -hʷan
   she kʸa -ki -hi
   we əñña -əñña -ñña
   you (m. pl.) dähəm -dähəm -dähəm
   you (f. pl.) dähma -dähma -dähma
   they (m.) kənnäm -kənnäm -hənnäm
   they (f.) kənnäma -kənnäm -hənnäm

   Possessives can also be formed by simply adding yä- to the standalone
   pronouns, eg: yädähəm t'əb "your clan".

   Reflexive pronouns are formed by äras-, gubba-, k'um- plus the
   possessive suffixes, eg ädi äras-əddi mät'afi t'afkunnət "I myself
   wrote the book".

Demonstrative pronoun

   Proximal: zi "this, these"; zini "this one". Eg: zi məss "this man", zi
   məšt "this woman", zi säbočč "these men".

   Distal: za "that, those, that one, those ones"; zani "that one there".
   Eg tä-za məss goy mät't'ahi "I came with that man".

Interrogative pronoun

     * ma "who?" (man before the copula): man mät't'a? "who came?"
     * yäma "whose?"
     * mən "what?"; yämən "why?"
     * yitta, yittat "which?" Eg yitta bayy mät't'am "which child came?"
     * yittani "which one?"

Indefinite pronoun

     * (yähonä) säb "someone, somebody"
     * mannəm (säb) "any(one)" ("no one" with negative verb)
     * attəm "any" (="no one, nothing" with negative verb); attəmu "no
       one" (as pronoun)
     * lela (säb) "other"
     * yäk'irrä k'äy "other" (lit. "remaining thing")
     * attə "a certain"
     * ləyyu "different"
     * k'una, zam, zəč'ə "same"
     * äbälo (f. äbälit) "so-and-so"
     * zihom "such"

   kulləm = "all" (placed before or after the noun); kulləm-u, bä-mollaw =
   "whole". yät'oma = "only, alone". "Each, every" is expressed by noun
   reduplication.

Copula and existential verbs

   The copula (positive and negative) is irregular in the present tense:
       English                  be                not be
   I am             näw(h)                      ädäbukk
   you (m. sg.) are nähä                        ädäbəkkä
   you (f. sg.) are näš                         ädäbəčč
   he is            -n, -ən (after a consonant) ädäbəll
   she is           na                          ädäbəlla
   we are           nänä                        ädäbəllänä
   you (m. pl.) are nähəm                       ädäbəkkəm
   you (f. pl.) are nähma                       ädäbəkkəma
   they (m.) are    näm                         ädäbəlläm
   they (f.) are    näma                        ädäbəäma

   Example: zämmidi nähä "you are my brother".

   The past tense ("he was", etc.) is expressed by the verb näbbär
   conjugated regularly in the perfect; "he was not" etc. is with annäbär.
   The future tense is expressed by the imperfect of hono: yəhonu "he will
   be", etc. The negative future tense is likewise expressed by tihon. The
   present copula in subordinate clauses is expressed by the subordinate
   perfect of honä, eg: däffär yähonä tädi-goy yalfu "he who is courageous
   will go with me.

   "It is he", etc. can be expressed by adding an element -tt between the
   pronoun and the copula: eg kʷa-ttə-n "it is he".

   The existential verb "be at", "exist" in the present is:
       English      be at/there not be at/there
   I am             yinähi      yellähu
   you (m. sg.) are yinəho      yellähä
   you (f. sg.) are yinäšin     yelläš
   he is            yino        yellä
   she is           yinätti     yellät
   we are           yinäno      yellänä
   you (m. pl.) are yinähmun    yellähəm
   you (f. pl.) are yinähman    yellähma
   they (m.) are    yinämun     yelləm
   they (f.) are    yinäman     yelləma

   In the past and future, it is expressed just like the copula, with
   näbbärä and honä. In subordinate clauses the present is expressed with
   -allä conjugated in the perfect (negative -lellä), eg: bämeda yalləmi
   säbočč araš näm "the people who are in the field are farmers".

   The possessive verb "he has" etc. is expressed with the existential
   verb yino "it is" (agreeing with the object possessed) plus object
   suffix pronouns (ie "it is to him" etc.)

Verbs

   A Soddo verb may have anywhere from one to four consonants, or may be a
   compound with balo "say" (eg bək'k' balo "appear".) In the former case,
   they fall into three " conjugations" differing in their vowels and in
   gemination of the imperfect, illustrated for a three-consonant verb:
     * säbbäro, imperfect yəsäbru ("break")
     * tikkälo, imperfect yətikkəlu
     * č'affäro, imperfect yəč'affəru

   Derived stems can be formed in several ways:
     * reduplicative: eg gäddälo "kill" > gədaddälo. This form has a wide
       variety of meanings, mostly intensifying the verb in some way.
     * passive/reflexive/ intransitive tä- prefix: eg käffälo "pay" >
       tä-käffälo "be paid". A reciprocal action can be expressed by this
       prefix attached to a transitive verb with the vowel a after the
       first radical, or a reduplicative form, eg tä-gäddäl-mun or
       tä-gdaddäl-mun "they killed each other".
     * causative or transitive of intransitive verbs a-: eg säkkäro "be
       drunk" > a-säkkäro "get someone drunk"; näddädo "burn (intr.)" >
       a-näddädo "burn (tr.)".
     * causative of transitive or passive verbs at- (+ -i-): eg käddäno
       "cover" > at-kiddäno "cause to cover" or "cause to be covered".
       Added to the -a- form, it expresses reciprocity and adjutative
       (helping): atgaddälo "cause to kill one other" or help to kill".
     * Some verbs are formed with initial ən- or tän-; the only derived
       stem from these is the a- stem, with a- replacing ə- or tä-. Eg
       ənkrättäto "be bent" > ankrättäto "bend".

   There are two tenses, perfect (past) and imperfect (non-past); each has
   distinct forms for main versus subordinate clauses, and positive versus
   negative. There are also distinct jussive, imperative, and impersonal
   forms.

Conjugations

Perfect

   English main clause subordinate clause relative clause subordinate with
   -m
   I measured säffär-ki säffär-kʷ yä-säffär-k-i säffär-kum
   you (m. sg.) measured säffär-ko säffär-kä yä-säffär-k-i säffär-käm
   you (f. sg.) measured säffär-šin säffär-š yä-säffär-š-i säffär-šəm
   he measured säffär-o säffär-ä yä-säffär-i säffär-äm
   she measured säffär-ätti säffär-ät yä-säffär-ätt-i säffär-ättəm
   we measured säffär-no säffär-nä yä-säffär-n-i säffär-näm
   you (m. pl.) measured säffär-əmun säffär-kəmu yä-säffär-kəm-i
   säffär-kəmum
   you (f. pl.) measured säffär-kəman säffär-kəma yä-säffär-kəma-yi
   säffär-kəmam
   they (m.) measured säffär-mun säffär-m yä-säffär-m-i säffär-mum
   they (f.) measured säffär-man säffär-ma yä-säffär-ma-yi säffär-mam

   The form with suffixed -m is used in subordinate clauses to connect
   verbs not otherwise connected, in a way analogous to Japanese -te; it
   can be translated as "and", as a gerund, or as a resultative. The
   perfect in -m followed by näbbär forms the pluperfect.

   The negative perfect is formed by prefixing al-, with vowel change; for
   the conjugations mentioned above, the resulting forms are al-säfärä,
   al-täkkälä, and al-č'afärä.

   Examples: ge aräššo "he built a house"; banätäw k'ən awänna-m bämida
   tonnaw "having put butter on the top of his head, he sat outside".

Imperfect

         English        main clause subordinate clause
   I advance            äbädru      äbädər
   you (m. sg.) advance təbädru     təbädər
   you (f. sg.) advance təbädri     təbʸedər
   he advances          yəbädru     yəbädər
   she advances         təbädri     təbädər
   we advance           (ən)nəbädru (ən)nəbädər
   you (m. pl.) advance təbädrəmun  təbädrəm
   you (f. pl.) advance təbädrəman  təbädrəma
   they (m.) advance    yəbädrəmun  yəbädrəm
   they (f.) advance    yəbädrəman  yəbädrəma

   Like the perfect, the subordinate forms can take the suffix -m to
   express a series of non-past actions. This can be combined with näbbär
   to express a habitual past action.

   Examples: ahoññ gäbäya nalfu "today we shall go to the market"; yəgädəl
   məss "the man who kills"; mas tənäsa-m yibara wawt'a tək'ärsi "she
   picks up the sleeping mats and begins to remove the dung."

   It can be augmented by -ən, with no obvious change in meaning.
            English          negative main clause negative subordinate clause
   I do not begin            täk'ärs              annək'ärs
   you (m. sg.) do not begin təttək'ärs           attək'ärs
   you (f. sg.) do not begin təttək'erš           attək'erš
   he does not begin         tik'ärs              ayk'ärs
   she does not begin        təttək'ärs           attək'ärs
   we do not begin           tənnək'ärs           annək'ärs
   you (m. pl.) begin        təttək'ärsəm         attək'ärsəm
   you (f. pl.) advance      təttək'ärsəma        attək'ärsəma
   they (m.) advance         tik'ärsəm            ayk'ärsəm
   they (f.) advance         tik'ärsəma           ayk'ärsəma

   Examples: ahoññ yəmät'a timäsəl "it does not seem that he will come
   today"; ädahʷan t-aykäfəl alläfo "he left without paying his debt".

Jussive and Imperative

     person   conjugation A  conjugation B conjugation C
   1st sg.    näsfər         näšäkkət      nägalb
   2nd m. sg. səfär          šäkkət        galb
   2nd f. sg. səfer          šäkkič        galʸib
   3rd m. sg. yesfər, yäsfər yešäkkət      yegalb
   3rd f. sg. tesfər         tešäkkət      tegalb
   1st pl.    (ən)nəsfär     nəšäkkət      nəgalb
   2nd m. pl. səfärəm        šäkkətəm      galbəm
   2nd f. pl. səfärma        šäkkətma      galbəma
   3rd m. pl. yesfərəm       yešäkkətəm    yegalbəm
   3rd f. pl. yesfərma       yešäkkətma    yegalbəma

   These are negated by the prefix ay-: ayəsfär, ayšäkkət, aygalb. The 2nd
   person forms then change to conform to the others: attəsfär, attəsfer,
   attəsfärəm, attəsfärma.

   Eg: yä-wäzälawan-hom yewsəd "let him take according to his work"; yäsäb
   waga attəlgäd "don't touch someone's property"; ärəf-əm tona "rest and
   sit down" (sit down quietly).
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